HOUSTON – A posthumous pardon for George Floyd in a 17-year-old drug conviction has been requested by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
In a letter sent to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday, Ogg said Floyd, who grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, was convicted in connection with the sale of a $10 crack rock in 2004 based on the sole testimony of former Houston police Officer Gerald Goines.
Goines is the officer who is being charged with murder in connection with the deadly 2019 police raid at a home on Harding Street. Goines is accused of falsifying an affidavit used to obtain the warrant that led to the raid.
The fallout from the raid led to Ogg’s office opening an investigation into thousands of cases involving Goines. Several of those cases have been dropped and some convictions have been overturned.
Ogg told KPRC 2′s Khambrel Marshall on ”Houston Newsmakers” last year that the case involving Floyd was among the cases that were being reviewed by her office.
“We even sent Mr. Floyd a notice, but because all we had was his last known address, I don’t believe he ever received it,” Ogg said. “He would’ve been entitled to relief.”
Floyd was killed while being taken into custody last year by former Minneapolis, Minnesota, police Officer Derek Chauvin.
In Wednesday’s letter, Ogg did not mince words about the reason for her request.
“Former officer Goines is not credible,” she wrote. “We do not support the integrity of Mr. Floyd’s conviction and agree these circumstances warrant a posthumous pardon.”
The letter comes after an attorney representing Floyd’s family filed a 250-page clemency application earlier this week.
A copy of Ogg’s letter is below.